AFTER For so long scientists have debated its existence, few clues have emerged. Now, researchers have confirmed the existence of space diamonds previously found on the Earth’s surface.
The stone, called lonsdaleite, has a hardness and strength that surpasses that of ordinary diamonds. According to recent research, the rare mineral arrived on Earth via meteorites.
It also reveals more about the natural chemical process that scientists believe forms lonsdaleite and could inspire ways to produce the highly potent industrial component. This is what it says in the research in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (9/12).
The discovery began when geologist Andy Tomkins, who is also a professor at Monash University, Australia, began classifying meteorites. He discovered a strange type of “broken” diamond from a space rock found in northwestern Africa, said study co-author Alan Salek, a PhD student and researcher at RMIT University in Australia.
Salek said Tomkins theorized that the lonsdaleite-containing meteorite came from the mantle of a dwarf planet about 4.5 billion light-years away.
“The dwarf planet was then violently hit by the asteroid, releasing the pressure and leading to the formation of this truly bizarre diamond,” Salek added. CNN (16/9).
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Replication in the industry
According to Paul Asimow, a professor of geology and geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology, USA, with cutting-edge methods and possibilities for the future, this discovery is exciting. Asimow was not involved in the study.
The team was able to analyze the meteorite with the help of electron microscopy and advanced synchrotron techniques, which built a map of the components of extraterrestrial objects, including lonsdaleite, diamond and graphite.
Lonsdaleite diamonds, according to Asimow, can be formed in three ways. It can withstand high pressures and temperatures for a long period of time, this is how diamonds are formed on the earth’s surface; collision shock due to meteoric hypervelocity; or the release of vapor from the graphite fragments that will stick to the tiny diamond fragments that compose it.
“Nature has given us a process to try to replicate in the industry,” Tomkins said in a press release he received CNN.
“We thought lonsdaleite could be used to make very small and very hard machine parts if we could develop an industrial process that would drive the replacement of preformed graphite parts with lonsdaleite,” he explained.
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Scientists first identified mineral fragments in 1967, but they are very small, from 1 to 2 nanometers. The size is 1,000 times smaller than that found in the latest discovery, Salek said.
Researching larger specimens has shown that lonsdaleite isn’t just an anomaly of other diamonds, Asimow said.
Ordinary diamonds, such as those found in jewelry, are made of carbon and have a cubic atomic structure, Salek said. Being the hardest materials known until now, they are also used in manufacturing. Lonsdaleite is also made of carbon, but has an unusual hexagonal structure.
Researchers had already come up with a model for the lonsdaleite structure and theorized that the hexagonal structure could make it up to 58 percent harder than regular diamond, Salek said.
This level of hardness could make rare space diamonds a valuable resource for industrial applications if scientists can find ways to use new production methods to make the mineral large enough. (aru)
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